It is no mystery that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. And when a business can count on a productive workforce, it has laid the foundation to lasting success.

One of the key aspects of retaining talent and keeping staff positive and efficient is knowing how to provide feedback. Many managers, though, either avoid to engage in constructive discussions or end up providing feedback that sounds more like criticism.

If you want to prevent both of these mistakes, and instead aim to boost your employees’ morale and show them how much you value their work, you need to learn the best way to offer them your feedback. Read on to discover some simple ways to achieve this.

Frame Your Observations in a Positive Way

Starting your conversation with a friendly, open, and positive attitude is the first step to building up to effective feedback-giving. Ask your employee how they are, invite them to take a seat, and offer them a chance to talk a bit before diving into your reviews. If you frame your feedback with warm, supportive words and gestures, whatever you say next will be received in a much more positive way.

Highlight Your Employee’s Strong Points

Next, you want to continue on this positive trajectory by pointing out to your employee how much you appreciate their skills. Avoid talking about wider, generic areas of competence (such as: “your marketing abilities are great”). Instead, focus on specific situations (as in: “the work you did with last month’s campaign for client X was impressive”). Again, your goal is to make your employee feel valued and appreciated, before you move onto the areas that need some improvement.

Talk About “Betterments” Instead of “Problems”

Now, for the real deal: your actual feedback. If you’ve followed the previous two steps, your employee should now feel confident and admired enough to withstand any negative comments. Once again, though, try not to use hostile words: talk about areas for improvement or betterment, as opposed to problems or challenges.

Listen to Their Response

A unilateral conversation doesn’t benefit either party. In order not to turn your meeting into a monologue, be sure to listen to what your employee has to say about your feedback. Ask them what they think about your observation, and whether they have anything to add as well as any concerns, questions, or suggestions.

Harness the Power of Data

If you want to go the extra mile, then you should consider using data to create constructive feedback. By working with data analysts, you can provide your employees with 360 degree feedback that’s based on facts and data.

Become a Pro at Learning How to Provide Feedback

With our easy tips, you can now learn how to provide feedback to your staff effectively and positively. 

The main thing that you want to achieve is to present any feedback in a positive light. If you start by praising your employee’s strengths, and if you make them feel at ease, the conversation will be pleasant and productive.

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